Communication of promotions based on data associated with a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A computer can receive diagnostics data and location data associated with a vehicle. The diagnostics data identifies a condition of the vehicle and the location data identifies a location of the vehicle. Further, the computer can receive promotional data that includes a plurality of promotions. Each promotion promotes a purchase transaction or offers products and/or services. Upon receiving the diagnostics data and the location data, the computer can determine if the condition of the vehicle satisfies a threshold condition. If the threshold condition is satisfied, the computer can select one or more promotions from the plurality of promotions based on the location of the vehicle and the condition of the vehicle. In addition, the computer can select the one or more promotions based on situational data. Further, the computer can transmit the selected one or more promotions for presentation to a driver or a user associated with the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/714,436 filed Oct. 16, 2012 in the names of Max L. Johnson, Jr.,Jeffrey D. Lamb, and Donovan Williams and entitled “Fuel CardTransaction Fraud Detection, Authorization, and Promotion,” the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to a field of advertising and, in oneexample embodiment, to a system, method, and apparatus for communicationof promotions based on data associated with a vehicle.

BACKGROUND

Businesses may offer promotions to customers to influence the customersto purchase goods and/or services provided by the businesses. Currenttechnology may provide the businesses with the ability to target thepromotions to customers based on the location of the customers. Forexample, a business may provide a promotion to a customer when thecustomer is in a vicinity of the business. However, targeting thepromotions based on location alone may not necessarily influencecustomers to make a purchase because the promotions associated with alocation may not be related or meaningful to the customers. Customersmay be more likely to be influenced by the promotions if the promotionswere more meaningful to the customer. In one example, customer may bemore likely to make a purchase based on a promotion if the promotion isassociated with a current situation of a customer, and/or the promotionis provided to the customer at an apt time. For example, a customer maybe more likely to purchase a new tire for the customer's vehicle basedon a promotion for tires, if the promotion for tires is provided whenthe customer's vehicle has a flat tire or in anticipation of a flattire. Current technology lacks the ability to obtain informationassociated with a situation of a customer and combine that with locationinformation of the customer to provide more meaningful promotions tocustomer at an apt time. Such limitations may result in businessesincurring a loss on their return on promotions, i.e., dollar earned perdollar spend on corresponding promotions which may affect a revenue ofthe businesses. Thus, there is a need for a technology that addressesthe above-mentioned deficiencies of conventional technology.

SUMMARY

For one aspect of the present invention, a computer can receivediagnostic data and location data associated with a vehicle. Thediagnostic data identifies a condition of the vehicle and the locationdata identifies a location of the vehicle. The computer also receivespromotion data that includes a plurality of promotions. Each promotionof the plurality of promotions typically promotes a purchase transactionor offers a product or service. Further, the computer can select one ormore promotions from the plurality of promotions based on the conditionof the vehicle and the location of the vehicle. In addition, thecomputer can transmit the one or more promotions for presentation by adevice that is associated with the vehicle or a driver of the vehicle.The one or more promotions can also be transmitted to any deviceassociated with any appropriate user.

For another aspect of the present invention, a computer can receivepromotional data that includes a plurality of promotions. Further, thecomputer can receive location data associated with a vehicle and asignal that represents a trigger event. The trigger event may bedetermined and correspondingly the signal may be transmitted to thecomputer by a telematics device that is configured for use with thevehicle. The location data identifies a location of the vehicle and thesignal represents a trigger event. Upon receiving the signal, thecomputer can select one or more promotions from the plurality ofpromotions based on the location of the vehicle and the trigger event.In addition, the computer can transmit the one or more promotions forpresentation by a device that is associated with the vehicle or a driverof the vehicle.

For yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer system canreceive fuel level data and location data of a vehicle. The fuel leveldata identifies the quantity of fuel present in a fuel tank of thevehicle and the location data identifies the location of the vehicle.The computer system can also receive situational data. Further, thecomputer system can receive promotional data that includes a pluralityof promotions, and a payment card identifier. The payment cardidentifier identifies a payment card. The computer system can determinethat the quantity of fuel represented by the fuel level data of thevehicle satisfies a threshold condition. Upon determining that the fuellevel data of the vehicle satisfies a threshold condition, the computersystem can determine if the vehicle is qualified to receive at least onepromotion. Further, upon determining that the vehicle is qualified toreceive at least one promotion, the computer system can select one ormore promotions from the plurality of promotions based on the locationof the vehicle, the quantity of fuel provided by the fuel level data ofthe vehicle, and the situational data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Example embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitationin the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for communication of promotionsbased on data associated with the vehicle, according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a telematics server ofFIG. 1, according to certain exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of a promotions server ofFIG. 1, according to certain exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of communicatingpromotions by the telematics server based on data associated with thevehicle, according to certain exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B (collectively ‘FIG. 5’) is a flow chart that illustratesanother example process of communicating promotions by the telematicsserver based on data associated with the vehicle, according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B (collectively ‘FIG. 6’) is a flow chart that illustratesa process of communicating promotions by the promotions server based ondata associated with the vehicle, according to certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart that illustrates a process of selecting one ormore promotions, according to certain exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates another process of selecting oneor more promotions, according to certain exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention.

Many aspects of the invention may be better understood with reference tothe above drawings. The elements and features shown in the drawings arenot to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustratingthe principles of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.Moreover, certain dimensions may be exaggerated to help visually conveysuch principles. In the drawings, reference numerals designate like orcorresponding, but not necessarily identical, elements throughout theseveral views. Other features of the present embodiments will beapparent from the Detailed Description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed are a system, a method and an apparatus for communication ofpromotions based on data associated with a vehicle. Before discussingthe embodiments directed to the method and system of communication ofpromotions based on data associated with a vehicle, it may assist thereader to understand the various terms used herein by way of a generaldescription of the terms in the following paragraphs.

The term ‘promotions,’ as used herein, may generally refer to any meansthat may be used to engage a user with any goods, items, any/orservices. The term ‘promotions,’ as used herein may include, but are notlimited to, advertisements, coupons, free giveaways, incentives,rewards, rebates, loyalty discounts, general discounts, and so on. Inone example embodiment, each promotion may include a code specific tothe corresponding promotion. The code may be machine readable and may beused to validate and track a redemption of the promotion. In anotherexample embodiment, the promotions may be in a digital format. Forexample, the promotion may be a digital coupon that is transmittedand/or received via a smart phone over a communication network. In yetanother example embodiment, the promotions may be printed on a tangiblemedium, such as paper. For example, a “10% discount on the nextpurchase” offer may be printed on a receipt which can be used to redeemthe discount.

The term ‘diagnostic data associated with a vehicle,’ as used herein,may generally refer to data that represents the condition or state of avehicle. Examples of the condition or state of a vehicle may berepresented by, inter alia, an amount of fuel present in the fuel tankof the vehicle, an oil level of the vehicle, a performance of theengine, a maintenance and service of the vehicle, a tire pressure of thevehicle, a condition of the windshield of the vehicle (broken), a brokentaillight, an issue with the alignment of the wheels of a vehicle, anissue with a headlight of a vehicle, an issue associated with a licenseplate of the vehicle, an issue with the breaks of the vehicle, and soon. One or ordinary skill in the art can understand and appreciate thatthe above-mentioned examples that represent the condition or state of avehicle are not exhaustive and may include any appropriate dataassociated with the body of the vehicle, external features of thevehicle, internal features of the vehicle, electronics of the vehicle,electrical features of the vehicle, control features of the vehicle, andso on, without departing from a broader scope of the disclosure.

The term ‘situational data,’ as used herein, may generally refer to datarepresentative of factors that are external to the vehicle. Examples ofthe situational data may include, but are not limited to, datarepresentative of time and date, year, seasons, weather, temperature,route travelled by a vehicle, and so on. In some embodiments, thesituational data may include likes and dislikes of a user to whom thepromotion is being presented.

The term ‘telematics device,’ as used herein, may generally refer todevice that is adapted to send, receive, and collect information via awired or wireless communications link. In one example embodiment, thetelematics device may be configured to send information associated witha vehicle, such as location of the vehicle, a heading direction of thevehicle, speed of the vehicle, distance travelled by the vehicle, and soon. In addition, the telematics device may be configured to obtain,store and/or send diagnostics data of a vehicle, such as fuel level,state of the vehicle's breaks, oil level, condition of the lights and/ormirrors associated with the vehicle, and so on. The telematics devicemay be adapted to be used with the vehicle. In one embodiment, thetelematics device may be an independently purchasable device that isconfigured to be attached to and/or detached from the vehicle asdesired. For example, the telematics device 104 may be attached to anonboard diagnostics (OBD) port of the vehicle. In another embodiment,the telematics device may be integrated with the vehicle. For example,the telematics device may be a Global Positioning System technologyintegrated in automotive navigation systems.

The term ‘payment card,’ as used herein may generally refer to afinancial services card. For example the payment card may include, butis not limited to, debit cards, credit cards, fuel cards, gift cards,and so on. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand andappreciate that the above-mentioned examples of payment cards may not beexhaustive and may include any appropriate card that can be used by acardholder, and accepted by a merchant to make a payment for a purchaseor in payment of some other obligation. In one example embodiment, thepayment card may be a physical card, such as a magnetic stripe card. Inanother example embodiment, the payment card may be a smart card. Forexample, the fuel card may be an NFC based card, RFID based card, QRcode based cards, and so on. In yet another example embodiment, thepayment card may be software implementation, such as a mobile paymentcard stored in a mobile wallet wherein the payment is performed via amobile computing device.

The term ‘characteristic of a driver,” as used herein, may generallyrefer to data representative of a user's pattern associated withaddressing any appropriate condition of the a vehicle. For example,characteristic of a driver may indicate a driver's pattern associatedwith refueling a vehicle in response to a fuel level of a vehicle. Insaid example, the characteristic of the driver may indicate that adriver follows a pattern of refueling the vehicle each time the vehiclehas 2 gallons left in the fuel tank. In another example, thecharacteristic of a driver may indicate a driver's pattern associatedwith servicing the vehicle, wherein the driver typically services thevehicle after every 5000 miles. One of ordinary skill in the art canunderstand and appreciate that the above mentioned examples are notexhaustive and may include any number of patterns associated withaddressing any appropriate condition of a vehicle. In one exampleembodiment, the characteristic of a driver may represent any appropriatedata of the driver in association with the vehicle. For example, thecharacteristic of a driver may represent a typical route traveled by thedriver using the vehicle.

It will be appreciated that the various embodiments discussed hereinneed not necessarily belong to the same group of exemplary embodiments,and may be grouped into various other embodiments not explicitlydisclosed herein. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments.

An exemplary system for communicating promotions based on dataassociated with a vehicle, as described herein, includes a telematicsdevice, a telematics server, and/or a promotions server that may becommunicably coupled to each other.

The telematics server receives promotional data comprising promotionsfrom the promotions server. Each promotion may promote a purchasetransaction or may offer goods and/or services. Further, each promotionmay include information such as one or more locations where thepromotion is redeemable, expiration date of the promotion, a code thatidentifies and/or validates the promotion, a value associated with thepromotion, and so on. In addition to the promotional data, thetelematics server receives a list of payment card identifiers from thepromotions server. The list of payment card identifiers may beassociated with payment cards that are eligible to receive at least onepromotion. Further, for each payment card identifier, the telematicsserver receives a list of vehicle identifiers associated with thepayment card identifier.

In addition to the data from the promotions server, the telematicsserver receives diagnostics data of a vehicle, location data of thevehicle, and a vehicle identifier of a vehicle from the telematicsdevice that is configured for use with the vehicle. The diagnostics datamay identify a condition of the vehicle and the location data mayidentify a location of the vehicle. In some embodiments, each datareceived from the telematics device may be time stamped, wherein thetimestamp associated with the received data may be indicative of a timeand date at which the data was obtained or recorded by the telematicsdevice.

Upon receiving the diagnostics data of the vehicle, the telematicsserver determines if the condition of the vehicle satisfies a thresholdcondition. If the threshold condition is satisfied, the telematicsserver determines if the vehicle identified by the vehicle identifierreceived from the telematics device is eligible to receive at least onepromotion. If the vehicle identifier of the vehicle is associated with aeligible payment card identifier, then the vehicle is consideredeligible to receive at least one promotion. Accordingly, the telematicsserver selects one or more promotions based on the condition of thevehicle that satisfies the threshold condition and the location of thevehicle. The one or more promotions are selected such that a location atwhich the selected promotion is redeemable is within a thresholddistance from the location of the vehicle. In other words, a promotionmay be selected if a location where the promotion is being offered iswithin a threshold distance from the location of the eligible vehicle.In addition, the promotions are selected such that they are associatedwith the condition of the vehicle. For example, if the condition of thevehicle is a low fuel level, then the selected promotion may associatedwith fuel prices and/or gas stations. Further, the selected promotionsare transmitted to a computing device associated with the vehicle, suchas a vehicle display or vehicle navigation system, or a computing deviceassociated with a driver of the vehicle, such as the driver's mobilephone.

In an additional embodiment, the telematics server receives situationaldata. The telematics server selects the one or more promotions based onthe situational data in addition to the condition of the vehicle, andthe location of the vehicle. For example, if the condition of thevehicle is low tire pressure, and the situational data includes weatherconditions that show snowfall, and time of day when low tire pressure isdetected as 7 pm, then, the selected promotions may be narrowed topromotions associated with snow tires provided at tire shops that areopen past regular business hours of 8 am-5 pm.

In one example embodiment, the telematics server and the promotionsserver may be implemented as a single server. Further, one of ordinaryskill in the art can understand and appreciate that in some embodiments,one or more of the above-mentioned operations associated with thetelematics server for communicating promotions based on data associatedwith the vehicle can be performed by the promotions server.

Technology for communicating promotions based on data associated with avehicle will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS.1-8, which describe representative embodiments of the present invention.First, FIG. 1 will be discussed in the context of describing arepresentative operating environment associated with communicatingpromotions based on data associated with a vehicle according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention. Then, FIGS. 2 and 3 willbe discussed, making exemplary reference back to FIG. 1 as may beappropriate or helpful. Further, the remaining FIGS. 4-8 will bediscussed, making exemplary reference back to FIGS. 1-3 as may beappropriate or helpful.

The following paragraphs describe various embodiments of the method,apparatus, and system for communicating promotions based on dataassociated with a vehicle. It will be appreciated that the variousembodiments discussed herein need not necessarily belong to the samegroup of exemplary embodiments, and may be grouped into various otherembodiments not explicitly disclosed herein. In the followingdescription, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details areset forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the variousembodiments.

Further, the present invention may be embodied in many different formsand should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forthherein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosurewill be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of theinvention to those having ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, all“examples” or “exemplary embodiments” given herein are intended to benon-limiting and among others supported by representations of thepresent invention.

Moving now to discuss the FIGS. 1-3 further, an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention will be described in detail. As further discussedbelow and in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary operational system forcommunication of promotions based on data associated with a vehicle;while FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrates exemplary system elements such as atelematics server and promotions server.

FIG. 1 illustrates example system for communication of promotions basedon data associated with the vehicle, according to certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates avehicle 102, a telematics device 104, a telematics server 106, apromotions server 108, data sources 120 a-n, a driver of the vehicle110, a mobile computing device associated with the driver 150, and apayment card 112.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a telematics device 104 that is configured foruse with the vehicle 102 may be attached to or integrated with thevehicle 102. While in operation, the telematics device 104 may beconfigured to obtain diagnostics data, location data, and/or a vehicleidentifier associated with the vehicle 102. In one embodiment, thediagnostics data and the location data of the vehicle 102 may berecorded at regular intervals of time and/or distance, for example, thediagnostics data and the location data may be recorded every 30 minutesand/or for every 100 miles covered by the vehicle. In anotherembodiment, the diagnostics data and the location data may be recordedbased on other triggers such as turning on or turning off the vehicleignition, application of breaks, crossing a geo-fence, and so on.

As described earlier, the diagnostics data may identify a condition ofthe vehicle 102, and the location data may identify the location of thevehicle 102. In one example embodiment, the vehicle identifier may beembedded within each of the diagnostics data and the location data toidentify the vehicle 102 to which the respective data is associated.

For example, a vehicle identifier number ‘1234’ may identify vehicle Xand vehicle identifier number ‘XYZD’ may identify vehicle Y. Continuingwith the example, embedding the vehicle identifier 1234 in a first fuellevel data and the vehicle identifier XYZD in a second fuel level datamay aid in determining that the first fuel level data represents thefuel level of vehicle X and the second fuel level data represents thefuel level of vehicle Y.

In some embodiments, the frequency at which the telematics device 104obtains and/or transmits data (e.g., diagnostics, location, etc.) to thetelematics server 106 may vary based on a condition of the vehicle. Forexample, when the fuel level of the vehicle indicates a full tank, thetelematics device 104 may record the fuel level of a vehicle at every 30minutes. However, as the fuel level reduces, the frequency at which thetelematics device 104 records and transmits data may increase, i.e., thefrequency may increase to recording the fuel level every 3 minutes. Inanother embodiment, the frequency at which the telematics device 104obtains and/or transmits data (e.g., diagnostics, location, etc.) to thetelematics server 106 may vary based on a characteristic of the driver.For example, when the fuel level of the vehicle indicates a full tank,the telematics device 104 may record the fuel level of a vehicle (i.e.,amount of fuel present in the fuel tank of the vehicle) at every 20minutes. In said example, the characteristic of the driver may indicatethat the driver typically refuels the vehicle when the fuel tank is¾^(th) empty. Continuing with the example, as the fuel level in the fueltank gets closer to being ¾^(th) empty or has gone below a preferredrefueling level of the driver 110, the telematics device 104 mayincrease a frequency of recording the fuel level of the vehicle to every5 minutes.

In some embodiments, in addition to the diagnostics data and locationdata, the telematics device 104 may be configured to obtain situationaldata representative of factors external to the vehicle such as weatherconditions, time of day, atmospheric temperature, season, etc. In oneexample, the situational data may be associated with a current locationof the vehicle, such as weather conditions at a current location of thevehicle. In another example, the situational data may be associated witha time when the diagnostics data is obtained, such as atmospherictemperature at the time a low fuel level is detected.

Upon obtaining the diagnostics data, the location data, the vehicleidentifier, and/or the situational data, the telematics device 104 maybe configured to transmit the obtained data to the telematics server106. In another embodiment, instead of transmitting the diagnosticsdata, the location data, the vehicle identifier, and/or the situationaldata to the telematics server 106, the telematics device 104 may beconfigured to process the obtained data to determine if the condition ofthe vehicle 102 identified by the diagnostics data satisfies a thresholdcondition. If the threshold condition is satisfied, then, the telematicsserver 104 may be configured to generate a signal that indicates thatthe threshold condition has been satisfied, and then transmit the signalto the telematics server 106. Alternatively, the operation ofdetermining if the condition of a vehicle 102 satisfies a thresholdcondition may be performed by the telematics server 106.

Now referring to the telematics server 106 as illustrated in FIG. 1, thetelematics server 106 may be communicably coupled to the telematicsdevice 104 via a communication network to receive data from and/ortransmit data to the telematics device 104. As described above, the datareceived from the telematics device 104 may include the diagnosticsdata, the location data, the situational data, and/or the vehicleidentifier of the vehicle 102. Upon receiving the diagnostics data, thelocation data, situational data, and/or the vehicle identifier, thetelematics server 106 may be configured to determine if the condition ofthe vehicle 102 satisfies a threshold condition, provided thedetermination has not already been made by the telematics device 104. Ifthe determination of meeting the threshold condition has been made bythe telematics device 104, then the telematics server 106 may receive asignal indicating that the threshold condition has been satisfied by thecondition of the vehicle.

In either case, once it is determined that the condition of the vehiclesatisfies the threshold condition, the telematics server 106 may beconfigured to determine if the vehicle 102 identifier by the vehicleidentifier received from the telematics device 104 (i.e., the vehiclefor which the condition of the vehicle has satisfied the thresholdcondition) is associated with a payment card identifier that isqualified to receive at least one promotion, wherein the payment cardidentifier identifies a payment card 112 associated with a driver 110 ofthe vehicle 102. If the vehicle identifier is associated with aneligible payment card identifier, then the vehicle may be consideredeligible to receive promotions. Upon determining that the vehicleidentified by the vehicle identifier is qualified to receive at leastone promotion, the telematics server 106 may be configured to select oneor more promotions from a plurality of promotions based on the conditionof the vehicle and the location of the vehicle. In another embodiment,the one or more promotions may be selected additionally based on thesituational data. Further, the telematics server 106 may be configuredto transmit the selected one or more promotions to the telematics device104 associated with the vehicle 102, provided the telematics device 104is adapted to communicate the promotions to the driver 110 of thevehicle 102. The received promotions may be communicated to the driver110 of the vehicle through visual, auditory, and/or tactile means. Inanother embodiment, the telematics server 106 may be configured totransmit the selected one or more promotions to the mobile computingdevice 150 associated with a driver 110 of the vehicle 102 Asillustrated in FIG. 1, the telematics server 106 may be communicablycoupled to the mobile computing device 150 via a wireless communicationnetwork.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the telematics server 106 may be communicablycoupled to the promotions server 108 to receive data from and/ortransmit data to the promotions server 108. The promotions server 108may be configured to receive information associated with promotions fromone or more data sources 120 a-n that comprises, but are not limited to,the manufacturer of a product, goods, or service associated with apromotion 120 b, a retailer or merchant associated with the promotion120 a, and/or any other appropriate third party data source forpromotions 120 n, such as coupon databases and so on. The promotions mayeither be pushed by the data sources 120 a-n to the promotions server108 or be pulled from the data sources 120 a-n by the promotions server108. In one example embodiment, the promotions server 108 may include aweb interface through which users may push promotions to the promotionsserver 108. For example, if a merchant is introducing a new promotion,the merchant may access the promotions server through the associated webinterface and enter or store the new promotion in the promotions server108. Continuing with the example, in some embodiments, the web interfacemay also facilitate users with tools based on which a user can createpromotions through the promotions server 108. In another exampleembodiment, the promotions server 108 may receive the promotions fromthe data sources 120 a-n at regular intervals in the form of batches,for example receive all promotions from each data source 120 a-n everynight. In yet another example embodiment, the promotions server 108 maybe configured to crawl through or access databases and serversassociated with the data sources 120 a-n to pull promotions to thepromotions server 108 as and when promotions are made available.

The promotions server 108 may store the promotions for a period ofvalidity of the promotions after which the promotions server 108 mayeither remove the expired promotions to make space for new promotions orstore them in a long term storage database for future processing. Insome embodiments, the promotions server 108 may categorize thepromotions based on any appropriate information associated with thepromotions, for example, the expiration data, the theme of thepromotion, the value associated with the promotion, the locations atwhich the promotions can be redeemed, the products, goods, or servicesthat the promotions are related to, the merchant associated with thepromotions, and so on.

In one embodiment, the promotions server 108 may be configured totransmit a plurality of the promotions to the telematics server 106 atregular intervals, such in a batch mode. For example, the promotionsserver 108 may transmit promotions to the telematics server 106 everymorning. In another embodiment, the promotions server 108 may beconfigured to transmit the plurality of promotions to the telematicsserver 106 upon receiving a request for promotions from the telematicsserver 106. In an example embodiment, the request may be for specificpromotions or for all new promotions available each day.

In addition to the receiving and storing promotions, the promotionserver 108 may be configured to receive and store a list of payment cardidentifiers, and vehicle identifiers associated with each of the paymentcard identifiers. Each payment card identifier may identify a paymentcard 112 that may be qualified to receive at least one promotion,wherein the payment card 112 may be associated with a user (e.g., driver110) of the vehicle 102. Further, each payment card may be linked to avehicle associated with a user to whom the payment card belongs. Forexample, the payment card 112 may be associated with a vehicle 102associated with the driver 110 to whom the payment card 112 belongs.Accordingly, to link the payment card 112 that qualifies for promotionsto a vehicle 102, the payment card identifier associated with thepayment card 112 may be mapped to a vehicle identifier of the vehicle102, provided the vehicle 102 is associated with a driver 110 to whomthe payment card 112 belongs.

In one example embodiment, a user that desires to receive promotions mayhave to register with the promotions server 108 and/or the telematicsserver 106 to receive promotions services associated with the respectiveservers. During registration, the user may enter one or more vehicleidentifiers of a vehicles (e.g., vehicle 102) associated with the user(e.g., driver 110). Further, the user (e.g., driver 110) may enter oneor more payment card identifiers of payment cards (e.g., a payment card112) associated with the user. In some embodiments, the user may beprompted to enter only a portion of the payment card identifier forsecurity and privacy purposes. The telematics server 106 and/or thepromotions server 108 may associate each user with the one or morepayment card identifiers (or portions of the payment card identifier) ofpayment cards (e.g., payment card 112) associated with the user, andeach payment card identifier may be associated with one or more vehicleidentifiers of vehicles associated with the user to whom the paymentcards belong. For example, user A may have a vehicle X that isidentified by a first vehicle identifier ‘1234,’ and a vehicle B that isidentified by a second vehicle identifier ‘9876’. Further, user A mayhave three payment cards, payment card E, F, and G identified by paymentcard identifiers 11, 22, and 33 respectively. Upon registration, each ofthe payment cards E, F, and G may qualify for promotions. Continuingwith the example, once user A provides information regarding the paymentcards and vehicles associated with user A, the telematics sever 106and/or the promotions server 108 may process the information andassociate each of the first vehicle identifier of vehicle X and secondvehicle identifier of vehicle Y with each of the payment cardidentifiers 11, 22, and 33. User A may choose to change theassociations, for example, user A may choose to associate the firstvehicle identifier with the first two payment card identifiers, and thesecond vehicle identifier with the third payment identifier. One orordinary skill in the art can understand appreciate that theassociations of the vehicle identifiers and the payment card identifiersmay be mixed and matched in any appropriate order without departing fromthe broader scope of the disclosure.

Further, in addition to the vehicle identifiers and the payment cardidentifiers, the telematics server 106 and/or the promotions server 108may receive a device identifier associated with the mobile computingdevice 150 of the user (e.g., driver 110) to which promotions may betransmitted for presentation to the user. The received device identifiermay be associated with the vehicle identifier and/or the payment cardidentifier. For example, a phone number associated with the driver'ssmart phone, or an IMEI number associated with the driver's mobile phonemay be associated with the vehicle identifier and/or the payment cardidentifier.

In an alternative embodiment, the promotions may be transmitted to anyappropriate user or entity that might be a stakeholder in receivingpromotions regarding the vehicle, such as fleet manager, in-housemaintenance foreman or crew, contracted maintenance crew. In one exampleembodiment, the promotions may be transmitted to a leasing company. Forexample, a leasing company might agree to take care of all themaintenance on a fleet of vehicles. If the condition of the vehiclemeets a threshold condition, then a promotion could be sent to theleasing company so that they could get a promotion on a certain good orservice involving the vehicle itself.

Further, there may be combinations of activity such that drivers receivecertain promotions like where to buy fuel, for example; a fleet managermight receive a certain promotion on where to get driver training orregistration done, for example; and a leasing company might receive apromotion on a maintenance aspect of the vehicle, for example—allregarding one vehicle/driver combination.

Referring back to the promotions server 108 as illustrated in FIG. 1,the promotions server 108 may be configured to receive information thatindicates that a promotion has been redeemed. Accordingly, thepromotions server 108 may keep track of a usage of the promotions andupdate a count that represents the number of times a particular group ofor an individual promotion has been redeemed. Further, the dataassociated with tracking of the promotions may be further processed bythe promotions server 108 to generate analytics associated with thepromotions, such as a popularity of the promotions, percentage increasein sales due to the promotions, demographics that the promotion was mostpopular among, etc. In one embodiment, the promotions server 108 maygenerate analytics reports associated with the promotions, which may bedistributed to the corresponding manufacturers, merchants or other userassociated with the promotion. In another embodiment, the promotionsserver 108 may facilitate software tools for users to run their ownanalytics on any appropriate data stored in the promotions server 108.The promotions server 108 and the telematics server 106 may be describedbelow in greater detail in association with FIGS. 2 and 3.

Turning to FIG. 2, this figure illustrates a functional block diagram ofa telematics server of FIG. 1, according to certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 2 illustratesan input engine 202, a vehicle condition detector engine 204, a locationidentifier 206, an account identifier engine 212, a promotion selectionengine 208, a pattern analyzer engine 210, a user interface engine 216,a memory 220, a processor 222, a vehicle identifier database 224, arules database 226, a driver characteristics database 228, and an outputengine 230.

The telematics server 106 may be implemented using one or more dataprocessing devices. Further, the telematics server 106 may beimplemented as a distributed server system where the operations of thetelematics server 106 may be distributed between one or more dataprocessors and/or a centralized server system where the operations ofthe telematics server 106 may be handled by a single data processor.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the telematics server 106 may include aprocessor 222. The processor 222 may be a multi-core processor. Inanother embodiment, the processor 222 may be a combination of multiplesingle core processors. In one embodiment, the telematics server 106 caninclude a memory 220 coupled to the processor 222. The memory 220 may benon-transitory storage medium, in one embodiment, and a transitorymedium in another embodiment. The memory 220 can include instructionsthat may be executed by the processor 222 to perform operations of thetelematics server 106. In other words, operations associated with thedifferent engines of the telematics server 106 may be executed using theprocessor 222.

Further, the telematics server 106 may include a user-interface engine216. In an example embodiment, the user-interface engine 216 of thetelematics server 106 may be configured to provide a web portal (e.g.,web interface, hereinafter ‘web interface’) through which a user mayaccess the telematics server 106. In other words, the users can interactwith the telematics server 106 using the web interface provided by theuser-interface engine 216. In one embodiment, the user-interface engine216 may be configured to authenticate the users prior to providingaccess to the telematics server 106. The users authenticated to accessthe telematics server 106 through the web portal may include, but arenot limited to, a server administrator, driver 110, users associatedwith data sources 120 a-n, and/or application developers. The datastored in the telematics server 106 may be accessed using an APIassociated with the telematics server 106. For example, applicationdevelopers may access the data stored in the telematics server 106 usingthe API to develop applications based on the data stored in thetelematics server 106.

In an exemplary embodiment, the user-interface engine 216 may beconfigured to display information available in the drivercharacteristics database 228, the rules database 226, and/or the vehicleidentifier database 224 through the web interface. Authorized users maybe allowed to browse the data stored in the various databases of thetelematics server 106 and further run analytics as permitted. In oneembodiment, an administrator may have permission to edit the rulesdatabase, wherein the administrator may add new rules and regulationsassociated with the determining if a condition of the vehicle hassatisfied a threshold condition, delete existing rules and regulationsand/or modify the stored rules and regulations. The said edit operationsare representative examples and one of ordinary skill in the art canunderstand and appreciate that other appropriate edit operations may beavailable to a user without departing from the broader scope and spritof the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the telematics server 106 may further includean input engine 202 which may be configured to receive inputs from thepromotions server 108, the telematics device 104, and/or a user such asthe driver 110. In an additional embodiment, the input engine 202 may beconfigured to receive an input from the plurality of data sources 120a-n as well.

The input received from the promotions server 108 may include aplurality of promotions which are either pushed to, or requested by thetelematics server 106. Upon receiving the plurality of promotions, theinput engine 202 may be configured to store the received promotions inthe rules database 226 or any other appropriate database associated withthe telematics server 106.

In addition to the plurality of promotions, the input received from thepromotions server 108 may include a list of payment card identifiersand/or vehicle identifiers associated with the payment card identifierswhich may be stored in the vehicle identifier database 224 of thetelematics server 106. In some embodiments, the input engine 202 of thetelematics server 106 may receive the payment card identifier and/or thevehicle identifiers directly from users (e.g., driver 110) instead ofthe promotions server 108.

Further, the input received from the promotions server 108 may includedata representative of threshold conditions associated with thecondition of the vehicle. The received threshold conditions may bestored in the rules database 226. Threshold conditions may identifyconditions that may trigger the selection and transmission of promotionsto a user. Accordingly, threshold conditions may include thresholdvalues associated with any appropriate condition of a vehicle. Examplesof the received threshold conditions may include, but are not limitedto, a condition where, when a fuel level of vehicle falls below athreshold fuel level of a vehicle below a selection and transmission ofpromotions may be triggered. Examples of threshold values may include,but is not limited to, a due date for maintenance of the vehicle, athreshold tire pressure of the vehicle, an threshold engine performanceof the vehicle, a threshold gas mileage of the vehicle, etc. One ofordinary skill in the art can understand and appreciate that theabove-mentioned example of threshold condition is not exhaustive and caninclude any appropriate threshold value associated with the thresholdcondition. In some embodiments, the threshold values may beuser-settable. In other embodiments, the threshold values may be setbased on a characteristic of the driver. For example, a threshold fuellevel value may be set as 4 gallons if a driver exhibits a pattern ofrefueling his vehicle when there is 4 gallons left in his fuel tank. Inanother example, the threshold fuel level may be manually set by theuser to 8 gallons.

As described above in association with FIG. 1, the input received fromthe telematics device 104 may include, but is not limited to, thediagnostics data of the vehicle 102, the location data of the vehicle102, the vehicle identifier of the vehicle 102, and/or the situationaldata. Upon receiving data from the telematics device 104, the inputengine 202 may be configured to distribute the data to the various otherengines of the telematics server 106. In particular, the input engine202 may be configured to forward the location data of the vehicle to thelocation identifier engine 206, and the diagnostics data to the vehiclecondition detector engine 204.

Upon receiving the location data, the location identifier engine 206 maybe configured to process the location data to determine a location ofthe vehicle 102. Similarly, upon receiving the diagnostics data, thevehicle condition detector engine 204 may be configured to process thediagnostics data to determine a condition of the vehicle.

Once the condition of the vehicle is determined, the vehicle conditiondetector engine 204 may be configured to retrieve a threshold conditionassociated with the condition of the vehicle from the rules database226. Further, the vehicle condition detector engine 204 may beconfigured to compare the retrieved threshold condition with thecondition of the vehicle obtained from the diagnostics data to determineif the condition of the vehicle satisfies the retrieved thresholdcondition.

Upon determining that the condition of the vehicle satisfies a thresholdcondition, the vehicle condition detector engine 204 may communicatewith the account identifier engine 212 to analyze the vehicle identifierassociated with the vehicle 102 for which the threshold condition hasbeen satisfied. Accordingly, the account identifier engine 212 mayanalyze the vehicle identifier to determine if a vehicle 102 associatedwith the vehicle identifier is qualified to receive a promotion. Theaccount identifier engine 212 may make the determination based on acomparison of the vehicle identifier of vehicle 102 with a list ofvehicle identifiers stored in the vehicle identifier database 224. Asdescribed above, the list of vehicle identifiers stored in the vehicleidentifier database 224 may include vehicle identifiers that areassociated with payment identifiers that qualify for at least onepromotion. If the vehicle identifier of the vehicle 102 for which thethreshold condition is satisfied matches a vehicle identifier stored inthe vehicle identifier database 224, then the vehicle 102 may bequalified to receive a promotion.

Upon determining that the vehicle 102 is qualified to receive apromotion, the vehicle condition detector engine 204 may communicatewith the promotions selection engine 208 to select one or morepromotions from a plurality of promotions stored in the telematicsserver 106 (e.g., stored in the rules database 226 and received from thepromotions server 108) based on the condition of the vehicle, thelocation of the vehicle, and/or the situational data.

Once the one or more promotions are selected, the output engine 230 maybe configured to transmit the selected promotions to the telematicsdevice 104 of the vehicle 102 and/or the mobile computing device 150associated with the driver 110 of the vehicle 102. In one embodiment,prior to transmission, the output engine 230 may be configured to formatthe selected promotions to be compatible with the device to which thepromotions are being transmitted. For example, the output engine 230 mayformat the selected promotions to fit a display form factor of themobile computing device 150. In addition to formatting and transmittingthe selected promotions, the output engine 230 may be configured tocommunicate any other appropriate additional data from the telematicsserver 106 to the telematics device 104, the mobile computing device150, and/or the promotions server 108.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the telematics server 106 may includea pattern analyzer engine 210 and a driver characteristics database 228.In one embodiment, the pattern analyzer engine 210 may be configured toanalyze data received from the telematics device 104 to determine adriver's pattern associated with addressing a condition of the vehicle.For example, if the diagnostics data of the vehicle includes datarepresentative of a fuel level of the vehicle 102, then, the patternanalyzer engine 210 of the telematics server 106 may be configured toanalyze the fuel level data received at regular intervals to determine adriver's refueling pattern. In said example, the pattern analyzer engine210 may determine that the driver 110 consistently refuels the vehicle102 when the fuel level of the vehicle is approximately one-fourth ofthe fuel tank. Accordingly, in said example, the pattern analyzer engine210 may determine that the characteristic of the driver is to refuel thevehicle when the fuel level of the vehicle is approximately one-fourthof the fuel tank.

In another embodiment, the pattern analyzer engine 216 may be configuredto analyze transaction data associated with the payment card 112 of adriver 110 to determine the driver's pattern associated with addressinga condition of the vehicle, provided such transaction data is availableto the telematics server 106. For example, the pattern analyzer engine216 may be configured to analyze a transaction data associated with thedriver's payment card 112 to determine the driver's pattern of servicingthe vehicle, provided the driver paid for the servicing using thepayment card 112. In said example, the pattern analyzer engine 210 maydetermine that the driver services the vehicle every 5000 miles.Accordingly, the pattern analyzer engine 210 may determine thecharacteristic of the driver is to service the vehicle approximatelyevery 5000 miles. In one embodiment, the telematics server 106 may beconfigured to receive the transaction data associated with the paymentcard 112 from the promotions server 108. In another embodiment, thetelematics server 106 may be configured to receive the transaction datadirectly from the source of the transaction data, for example a point ofsale system or transaction gateway that processes transactionsassociated with the payment card 112.

In another embodiment, the pattern analyzer engine 216 may receive thecharacteristics of the driver from the promotions server 108. In anadditional embodiment, the driver 110 may access the telematics server106 to manually enter the driver's characteristics through the webinterface. In either case, the characteristic of the driver that iseither received from the promotions server 108/driver 110 and/ordetermined by the pattern analyzer engine 210 may be stored in thedriver characteristics database 228. Further, as described above,threshold conditions may be formulated and threshold values may be setbased on a characteristic of the driver 110.

One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and appreciate that oneor more operations of the telematics server 106 as described above maybe performed solely by the telematics server 106 and/or may bedistributed to the promotions server 108 without departing from thebroader scope of the disclosure. The promotions server 108 may bedescribed in greater detail below in association with FIG. 3.

Now turning to FIG. 3, this figure illustrates a functional blockdiagram of a promotions server of FIG. 1, according to certain exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 3 illustratesan input engine 302, the transaction analyzer engine 304, the promotionstracking engine 306, statistics engine 308, user-interface engine 310,memory 320, processor 322, payment card account database 324, promotionsdatabase 326, promotions tracking database 328, and an output engine330.

The promotions server 108 may be implemented using one or more dataprocessing devices. Further, the promotions server 108 may beimplemented as a distributed server system where the operations of thepromotions server 108 may be distributed between one or more dataprocessors and/or a centralized server system where the operations ofthe promotions server 108 may be handled by a single data processor.

Similar to the telematics server 106, the promotions server 108 mayinclude a processor 320 and memory 322. The processor 322 may be amulti-core processor. In another embodiment, the processor 322 may be acombination of multiple single core processors. In one embodiment, theprocessor 322 may be coupled to the memory 320. The memory 320 may benon-transitory storage medium, in one embodiment, and a transitorymedium in another embodiment. The memory 320 can include instructionsthat may be executed by the processor 322 to perform operations of thepromotions server 108. In other words, operations associated with thedifferent engines of the promotions server 108 may be executed using theprocessor 322.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the promotions server 108 may includea user-interface engine 310. The user-interface engine 310 may beconfigured to engage users with the promotions server 108, for examplethrough a web-interface. The users can include both users that registerto receive promotions (e.g., driver 110), and users that providepromotions, such as merchants, retailers, and/or manufacturers (herein‘merchants’).

In one embodiment, users such as manufacturers, retailers, and/ormerchants (herein ‘merchants’) that provide the promotions may registerwith the promotions server 108. Upon registering, user-interface engine310 may provide software tools to assist the merchants to create and/orenter the promotions. The promotions that are created and/or entered bythe merchants may be received by the input engine 302 and forwarded tothe promotions database 326 for storage. In some embodiment, in additionto receiving the promotions based on entry by the merchants, the inputengine 302 of the promotions server 108 may be configured to browse orcrawl through servers and/or databases associated with the data sources120 a-n to retrieve any appropriate promotion for storage in thepromotions database 326.

In another embodiment, in addition to the merchants, users such asdriver 110 may register with the promotion server 108 to receivepromotions. Accordingly, the user-interface engine 310 may be configuredto prompt users (e.g., driver 110) to register with the promotionsserver 108 to receive services associated with the promotions server 108and/or the telematics server 106. The registration may include promptinga user to provide at least a portion of a payment card identifierassociated with the user's payment card 112, and a vehicle identifier ofthe user's vehicle 102. Further, in some embodiments, the user-interface310 may prompt the user to enter a user's characteristic associated withaddressing a condition of the user's vehicle 102. Furthermore, theregistration may include prompting the user (e.g., driver 110) to entera device identifier associated with the a mobile computing device 150 ofthe user. As described above the user may enter the requested datathrough the web-interface provided by the user-interface engine 310.Further, information entered by the users may be received by the inputengine 302 and forwarded to the payment card account database 324 forstorage. In addition, the input engine 302 may be configured toassociate the payment card identifiers with the appropriate vehicleidentifiers and device identifiers.

In an additional embodiment, the user-interface engine 310 may prompt auser (e.g., driver 110) to provide permission to access and processtransaction data associated with the user's payment card 112.Accordingly, the promotions server 108 may be configured to receivetransaction data associated with the payment card 112 either from apoint of sale system where the payment card 112 is used, or from atransaction gateway that handles transactions associated with thepayment card 112.

Upon receiving the transaction data associated with a payment card 112,the input engine 302 may store the transaction data in the payment cardaccount database 324. Further, the input engine 302 may forward thetransaction data to the transaction analyzer engine 304. In oneembodiment, the transaction analyzer engine 304 may analyze thetransaction data to determine the characteristic of the driver asdescribed above in association with FIG. 2. In another embodiment, thetransaction analyzer engine 304 may communicate with the promotionstracking engine 306 to analyze the transaction data to determine if apromotion has been redeemed in association with the transaction usingthe payment card 112. If a promotion has been redeemed in associationwith a transaction using the payment card 112, the transaction data maybe embedded with a code that identifies the corresponding promotion thathas been redeemed. Accordingly, the promotions tracking engine 306 cantrack the promotions that have been redeemed and update trackinginformation associated with each promotion in the promotions trackingdatabase 328. The tracking information can include, but is not limitedto, the number of times a promotion is used, the demographics withinwhich the promotion is more popular, a spread of the promotions,locations at which the promotions are most popular, and so on. Forexample, if promotion A is distributed to 20 different users and 10 ofthem have redeemed the promotions, the promotions tracking engine 306can update the count representative of the number of times promotion Ahas been redeemed to 10. One or ordinary skill in the art can understandand appreciate that any appropriate information associated with thepromotion may be tracked without departing from the broader scope of thedisclosure.

Further, promotions server 108 may include a statistics engine 308 thatmay be configured to run analytics of the information stored in thepromotions tracking database 328. Further, the statistics engine 308 maygenerate analytics reports associated with an various characteristics ofthe promotions, such as effectiveness of the promotion, the most popularpromotion, a time period when the promotion is most popular, the leastpopular promotion, and so on. In one example embodiment, the analyticsreport may be include analytics data that is of interest to the merchantin association with the promotions put forth by the merchant. In anotherembodiment, the user-interface engine 310 may provide software toolsthat allow merchants to run their own analytics on any appropriate datathat is stored in the promotions server 108.

Referring back to the input engine 302, in one embodiment, the inputengine 302 may be configured to receive data from the telematics server106. In one example embodiment, the data received from the telematicsserver 106 may include the diagnostics data, the location data, and/orsituational data. Further, the data received from the telematics server106 may include a request to select one or more promotions based on thediagnostics data, location data, and/or the situational data fortransmission to the telematics server 106 and/or the mobile computingdevice 150. In some embodiments, the promotions server 108 may beconfigured to push the plurality of promotions from the promotionsdatabase 328 to the telematics server 106, instead of waiting for arequest from the telematics server 106. In other words, the promotionserver 108 may be configured to transmit a plurality of promotions tothe telematics server 106 at regular intervals in a batch mode. Data maybe transmitted from the promotions server 108 through the output engine330.

One of ordinary skill in the art can understand and appreciate that insome embodiments, the promotions server 108 and the telematics server106 may be implemented as a single server, without departing from thebroader scope of this disclosure. Further, one of ordinary skill in theart can understand and appreciate that one or more of the operationsassociated with the promotions server 108 may be distributed to thetelematics server 106 without departing from a broader scope of thedisclosure. The operations of the telematics server 106 and thepromotions server 108 may be described in greater detail below inassociation with FIGS. 4-8.

Turning now to FIGS. 4-8, these figures include flow charts thatillustrate the process of communicating promotions based on dataassociated with a vehicle. Although specific operations are disclosed inthe flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 4-8, such operations are exemplary.That is, embodiments of the present invention are well suited toperforming various other operations or variations of the operationsrecited in the flowcharts. It is appreciated that the operations in theflowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 4-8 may be performed in an orderdifferent than presented, and that not all of the operations in theflowcharts may be performed.

All, or a portion of, the embodiments described by the flowchartsillustrated in FIGS. 4-8 can be implemented using computer-readable andcomputer-executable instructions which reside, for example, incomputer-usable media of a computer system or like device. As describedabove, certain processes and operations of the present invention arerealized, in one embodiment, as a series of instructions (e.g., softwareprograms) that reside within computer readable memory of a computersystem and are executed by the processor of the computer system. Whenexecuted, the instructions cause the computer system to implement thefunctionality of the present invention as described below.

Turning to FIG. 4, this figure illustrates a flow chart that illustratesa process of communicating promotions by the telematics server based ona condition of the vehicle, according to certain exemplary embodimentsof the present invention. In operation 402, the promotions server 108may be configured to transmit promotions that are stored in thepromotions database 326 to the telematics server 106 at regularintervals. In some embodiments, the promotions server 108 may check thepromotions database 326 to identify any new promotions that have notbeen transmitted to the telematics server 106 in previous transmissions.Accordingly, the promotions server 108 may transmit the identified newpromotions to the telematics server 106. The process of identifying newpromotions and transmitting them to the telematics server 106 may beperformed as a daily routine to keep the telematics server 106 updatedwith the latest promotions. In another embodiment, instead ofautomatically pushing the promotions to the telematics server 106 on aregular basis, the promotions server 108 may transmit the promotionsbased on a request for promotions from the telematics server 106.

In addition to providing promotions to the telematics server 106, inoperation 402 the promotions server 108 may be configured to transmit,to the telematics server 106, a list of payment card identifiers thatidentify payment cards (e.g., payment card 112) that are qualified toreceive at least one promotion. In some embodiments, a user may specifythe kind of promotions and the number of promotions that the user wouldlike to receive in a day during registration. Further, the user canspecify a time of day that the user may desire not to receive anypromotions. One of ordinary skill in the art can understand andappreciate that a number of other customization filters may be availableto the user at the time of registration or later without departing froma broader spirit of the disclosure. Additionally, in some embodiments,the customization that is available to the users may be restricted basedon a registration or membership status of the user. Such registrationand/or membership status may also be applicable to the merchants.However, the customization filters provided to the merchants may vary insome embodiments. For example, the merchants may be provided withfeatures related to customizing an analysis report that tracksperformance or any other appropriate characteristics of a promotionassociated with the merchant. In said example for merchants, someanalytics tools may be restricted to merchants based on a membership orregistration status of the merchant.

Referring back to operation 402, in addition to the list of payment cardidentifiers, the promotions server 108 may be configured to provide thetelematics server 106 with a list of vehicle identifiers that areassociated with each payment card identifier that qualifies for apromotion. Further, in some embodiments, in operation 402, thepromotions server 108 may also provide the telematics server 106 withdevice identifiers associated with devices through which a user may becontacted. For example, the promotions server 108 may provide a phonenumber associated with a smart phone 150 of the driver 110. One ofordinary skill in the art can understand and appreciate that thepromotion server 108 may facilitate the telematics server 106 with anyappropriate contact information associated with a user through which atelematics server 106 may contact a user for providing promotions.

In an additional embodiment, the promotions server 108 may transmit tothe telematics server 106 threshold conditions associated with acondition of a vehicle for one or more vehicles. The thresholdconditions may either be manually set by the user or automatically setby the server 108 based on characteristic of the driver of the vehicle.Such settings by the user may be made at any time during or afterregistration. For example, after registration, a user-interface engine310 may provide the user with options to set threshold conditionsassociated with the condition of the vehicle. In said example, the usermay be provided with an option to set trigger conditions such as a breaksensitivity value of the vehicle below which an action may be taken, ora value of fuel level of the vehicle below which an action may be taken.In another example, the characteristic of a user, for example driver maybe analyzed and the threshold condition may be automatically set by acomputer. In said other example, the computer may determine that adriver consistently services his vehicle after 5000 miles andaccordingly the threshold condition may be set such that an action maybe taken after every 5000 miles the vehicle covers. The action mayinclude, but is not limited to, selecting and/or transmitting promotionsto the driver of the vehicle. Further, the action may be taken by thetelematics server 106 and/or the promotion server 108 which may bediscussed below in greater detail.

In operation 404, the telematics device 106 may be configured to receivedata that is transmitted from the promotions server 108, such aspromotions data, payment card identifiers, vehicle identifiers, deviceidentifiers, threshold conditions, and/or characteristic of the driver.In some embodiments, one or more of the above-mentioned data may bereceived directly from a user by the telematics server 106, provided thetelematics server 106 can be accessed by the user. Upon receiving thedata, in operation 404, the telematics device 106 may be configured tostore the received data in one or more databases associated with thetelematics server 106 such as, vehicle identifier database 224, rulesdatabase 226, and driver characteristics database 228.

Further, in operation 406, the telematics device 104 may be configuredto transmit, to the telematics server 106, data associated with thevehicle 102 to which the telematics device 104 is attached and/orintegrated. The data transmitted by the telematics device 104 mayinclude, but is not limited to, diagnostics data of the vehicle, thelocation data of the vehicle, the situational data, and/or the vehicleidentifier. In some embodiments, the vehicle identifier may be embeddedin the diagnostics data, location data, and/or the situational data.

Once the telematics device 104 transmits the data, in operation 408, thetelematics server 106 may receive the data from the telematics device104 and further process the data. As described above the data receivedfrom the telematics device 104 may include diagnostics data of thevehicle 102, location data of the vehicle 102, the situational data ofthe vehicle 102, and a vehicle identifier of the vehicle 102. Uponreceiving the data, in operation 408, the telematics server 106 may beconfigured to process the diagnostics data to determine a condition of avehicle and/or a value associated with the condition of the vehicle.Further, in operation 408, the location data may be processed todetermine a location of the vehicle 102.

Once the condition of the vehicle or a corresponding value isdetermined, in operation 410, the telematics server 106 may beconfigured to select one or more promotions for transmission to thetelematics device 104 of the vehicle 102 and/or the mobile computingdevice 150 of the vehicle 102. The one or more promotions may beselected based on the location data and the diagnostics data, and/or thesituational data. Operation 410 of selecting the one or more promotionsmay be described in greater detail below, in association with FIG. 7.

Turning to FIG. 7, this figure illustrates a flow chart that illustratesa process of selecting one or more promotions, according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention. In operation 702, thevehicle condition detection engine 204 of the telematics server 106 maydetermine if the condition of the vehicle identified by the diagnosticsdata satisfies a threshold condition. Rules that determine if thethreshold condition is satisfied may be stored in the rules database.

In one example, the condition of the vehicle identified by thediagnostics data may be a value representative of a fuel level of avehicle. Further, the threshold condition may be such that if the fuellevel of the vehicle is below a threshold value of fuel level, then thethreshold condition may be satisfied. The threshold value may be set bya driver 110 of the vehicle or may be determined based on acharacteristics of the driver 110 of the vehicle 102. In said example,the threshold value of the fuel level may be set by the driver as 4gallons, and the value of fuel level determined from the diagnosticsdata may be less than 4 gallons. Accordingly, the vehicle conditiondetection engine 204 may determine that the threshold condition has beensatisfied.

In another example, the condition of the vehicle identified by thediagnostics data may be a value representative of a tire pressureassociated with the tires of a vehicle. Further, the threshold conditionmay be condition wherein when a tire pressure of the vehicle is below athreshold value of tire pressure, then the threshold condition may besatisfied. In said other example associated with tire pressures, thethreshold value of the tire pressure may be determined based on acharacteristic of the driver that indicates that the driver typicallyfills air into the tires when the tire pressure is below 29 pounds persquare inch (psi). Accordingly, the threshold value of tire pressure maybe set as 29 psi. The characteristic of the driver may be a datum thatis obtained based on telematics data associated with the vehicle,analyzing transaction data, or provided directly by the driver. In saidother example, the tire pressure associated with the vehicle's tiresmaybe 30 psi. Accordingly, the vehicle condition detection engine 204may determine that the threshold condition has not been satisfied.

In yet another example, the condition of the vehicle identified by thediagnostics data may be a value representative of a distance travelledby the vehicle since last servicing of the vehicle. Further, thethreshold condition may include sub-conditions concerning a distancetravelled by the vehicle and a time since last servicing of the vehicle.In this example concerning distance and time, the threshold conditionmay be satisfied if the distance value obtained from the diagnosticsdata is above a threshold distance value OR a determined time value isabove a threshold time value. As described above, the thresholdcondition may be formed based on one or more sub conditions that can becombined using AND, OR, or any other appropriate logic combinations. Insaid concerning distance travelled by the vehicle and time of purchase,the distance value may be obtained from the diagnostics data and thetime value representing the time since purchase may be obtained from thepromotions server 108 or an external source. The threshold distance maybe set as 5000 miles and the threshold time since last servicing may beset as 6 months. In said example, the distance value obtained from thediagnostics data indicate that the vehicle has covered 4000 miles, andthe time since last servicing may be 8 months. Accordingly, the vehiclecondition detection engine 204 may determine that the thresholdcondition has been met, since one of the sub conditions of the thresholdcondition has been satisfied.

In another example, in addition to the diagnostics data, the conditionof the vehicle may also be obtained from additional external sources.For example, information regarding a broken tail light may be obtainedfrom the diagnostics data, provided such data is detectable by thetelematics device 104 or the on-board diagnostics of the vehicle 102.However, in addition to the diagnostics data, if the vehicle 102 isticketed by the law enforcement for driving with a broken tail light,information regarding the broken tail light may also be obtained fromthe external data source such as a database that maintains lawenforcement records. In another example, data regarding the last time avehicle was serviced may be obtained from a database associated with avehicle servicing agency. In yet another example, sometimes users mayprovide the vehicle for servicing, but may not address every issueassociated with the vehicle because of time or monetary constraints.Such unaddressed issues may reflect a condition of the vehicle and datarepresentative of such unaddressed issues may be obtained from adatabase associated with the servicing agency that maintains suchrecords. In said examples, the promotions server 108 and/or thetelematics server 106 may be configured to be communicably coupled toexternal data sources.

Referring back to operation 702, if the vehicle condition detectionengine 204 determines that the threshold condition has not been met,then the process returns to operation 408 of FIG. 4, wherein thetelematics server 106 receives new data from the telematics device 104which may be further processed to determine if a threshold condition ismet. On the other hand, once the vehicle condition detection engine 204determines that the threshold condition has been satisfied, in operation704, the vehicle condition detection engine 204 may communicate with theaccount identifier engine 212 to determine if the vehicle identifier ofthe vehicle for which the threshold condition has been satisfied isassociated with a payment card identifier that is qualified for at leastone promotion.

If the account identifier engine 212 determines that the vehicleidentifier is associated with a payment card identifier that isqualified to receive at least one promotion, then, in operation 708, theaccount identifier engine 212 may communicate with the promotionselection engine 208 to determine one or more promotions that are to beselected for transmission. The promotion selection engine 208 may selectthe one or more promotions based on a location of the vehicle, thecondition of the vehicle, and the situational data. In other words, thepromotion selection engine 208 may filter a plurality of promotionspresent in a database of the telematics server 106 based on the locationof the vehicle, the situational data, and the condition of the vehicle.In particular, the one or more promotions may be selected such that theone or more promotions are applicable within a threshold distance fromthe location of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the one or morepromotions may be selected such that a location associated with the oneor more promotions or the location at which the one or more promotionsare offered is within a threshold distance from the location of thevehicle. Further, the one or more promotions may be filtered based onthe condition of the vehicle such that the one or more promotions areassociated with the condition of the vehicle that satisfies thethreshold condition. Furthermore, the one or more promotions that arefiltered based on location and condition of the vehicle may be furtherfiltered based on a factors external to the vehicle that are identifiedby the situational data. In some embodiments, the filtering based onsituational data may be omitted without departing from the broader scopeof the invention. Further, the order in which the promotions arefiltered can be varied.

For example, the condition of the vehicle that satisfies the thresholdcondition may identify that vehicle is low on fuel. Further, thelocation data may identify that the vehicle is at location X. Inaddition, the situational data may identify that the atmospherictemperature at location X is 30 Fahrenheit and the time of day is 11 pm.In said example, the promotion selection engine 208 may determine one ormore promotions that are associated with a low fuel condition of thevehicle. Accordingly, the promotion selection engine 208 may select oneor more discounted fuel price promotions associated with gas stationsthat are within a 4 mile radius of location X. Further, the selected oneor more promotions may be filtered down to promotions associated withgas stations that are open at 11 pm and/or promotions associated withgas stations that offer hot coffee. Some promotions offered by the gasstations may include complimentary hot coffee with the purchase of fuel.In another example, the promotions may include free car wash when thedriver purchases fuel at the gas station that offers the promotion, freetire pressure check, etc.

In another example, the condition of the vehicle that satisfies thethreshold condition may identify that vehicle is due for servicing.Further, the location data may identify that the vehicle is at locationY. In said example, the promotion selection engine 208 may determine oneor more promotions that are associated with a servicing the vehicle.Accordingly, the promotion selection engine 212 may select promotionsassociated with service shops within a 2 mile radius from location Y.The promotions offered by the different service shops may includediscount associated with servicing, free oil change, free towingservice, and so on.

In one embodiment, the threshold distance may be user-settable and maybe static. In another embodiment, the threshold distance may be changeddynamically based on a condition of the vehicle, i.e., if the conditionof the vehicle indicates an extremely critical condition then thethreshold distance may be reduced. For example, if the fuel level of thevehicle is close to empty, then the threshold distance associated withthe selection of promotions may be reduced from 5 miles radius to 0.5mile radius from the location of the vehicle.

Referring back to operation 708, once the one or more promotions fortransmission are determined, then in operation 710 the process 410returns to operation 412 of FIG. 4. Similarly, if the account identifierengine 212 determines that the vehicle identifier is not associated witha payment card identifier that is qualified to receive at least onepromotion, then in operation 706, the account identifier engine 212 mayinform the vehicle condition detection engine 204 that the correspondingvehicle 102 does not qualify to receive a promotion and return tooperation 412 of FIG. 4. In some embodiments, in operation 706, theaccount identifier engine 212 may communicate with the output engine 230to generate an alert regarding the condition of the vehicle. Further, inoperation 706, the output engine 230 may transmit, to a mobile computingdevice 150 of the driver 110 and/or the telematics device 104, thegenerated alert along with a request to sign-up or register to receiveany promotions based on data associated with the vehicle 102. Further,in operation 710, the process returns to operation 412 of FIG. 4.

Referring back to FIG. 4, in operation 412, the output engine 230 of thetelematics server 106 may transmit the selected one or more promotionsto the telematics device 104 and/or the mobile computing device 150 ofthe driver 110. Accordingly, in operation 414, the telematics device 104and/or the mobile computing device 150 of the driver 110 may receive andpresent the one or more promotions to the driver 110. The process ofcommunicating promotions based on the data associated with a vehicleends at operation 416.

As described earlier, one or more operations of the telematics server106 may be distributed to and performed by promotions server 108 and/orthe telematics device 104, the process of which will be described inassociation with FIGS. 5 and 6.

Turning to FIG. 5, this figure illustrates a flow char that illustratesanother example process of communicating promotions by the telematicsserver based on a condition of the vehicle, according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention. The operationsillustrated in FIG. 5 are largely the same as those illustrated in FIGS.4 and 7, except for operations 502-514 where the telematics device 104determines a trigger event for transmission of promotions to the driver110. Therefore, the description of FIG. 5 will be limited to theoperations 502-514 for sake of brevity.

In FIG. 5 the telematics device 104 may be an intelligent device that isconfigured to process data, make decision, and generate signals.Accordingly, in operations 502-510, the telematics device 104 attachedto the vehicle 102 may process diagnostics data of the vehicle todetermine if a threshold condition has been satisfied and generate asignal in response to the determination. In particular, in operation502, the telematics device 104 attached to the vehicle 102 may obtain adiagnostics data associated with the vehicle 102. Further, in operations504 and 506, the telematics device 104 may determine if a trigger eventhas occurred. A trigger event may generally refer to an event where thecondition of the vehicle identified by the diagnostics data satisfies athreshold condition. If the trigger event has occurred, i.e., if thecondition of the vehicle satisfied a threshold condition, then inoperation 508, the telematics device 104 may generate a signal thatindicates a trigger event has occurred. Each signal may be specific tothe condition of the vehicle that satisfies the threshold condition. Forexample, a signal indicative of a low fuel level may be different from asignal indicative of a low tire pressure or a past due oil change.

Once the signal is generated, in operation 510, the telematics device104 may be configured to transmit the signal, the vehicle identifier,the location data and/or the situational data to the telematics server106. In operation 512, the telematics server 106 may be configured toreceive the data transmitted from the telematics device 104 comprisingthe signal, the vehicle identifier, the location data and/or thesituational data. Further, in operation 512, the telematics server 106may process the received signal to determine the condition of thevehicle that satisfies the threshold condition as identified by thesignal.

Once the condition of the vehicle that satisfies the threshold conditionis determined, in operation 514, the telematics server 106 may selectone or more promotions for transmission to the telematics device 104and/or mobile computing device 150 of the driver 110. The one or morepromotions may be selected based on the location of the vehicle, thecondition of the vehicle that satisfies the threshold condition, and thesituational data. The process associated with operation 514 may befurther described in association with FIG. 8.

Turning to FIG. 8, this figure is a flow chart that illustrates anotherprocess of selecting one or more promotions, according to certainexemplary embodiments of the present invention. The operationsillustrated in FIG. 8 may be similar to the corresponding operations ofFIG. 7 with the exception that operation 702 which determines if thecondition of the vehicle satisfies a threshold condition may be omittedbecause the operation of determining if the threshold condition issatisfied is performed by the telematics device 104 in correspondingoperations 506-508 prior to operation 514 as shown in FIG. 5.Accordingly, the operations of FIG. 8 may not be repeated for sake ofbrevity.

Now turning to FIG. 6, this figure is a flow chart that illustrates aprocess of communicating promotions by the promotions server based on acondition of the vehicle, according to certain exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates an example embodiment wherethe process of selecting the one or more promotions for presentation tothe driver 110 of the vehicle 102 may be performed by the promotionsserver 108 rather than the telematics server 106.

Accordingly, the process begins with operations 406 and 408 which aredescribed above in association with FIG. 4. In operations 406 and 408,the telematics device 104 may transmit diagnostics data, location dataand/or the vehicle identifier of the vehicle 102 to the telematicsserver 106. Upon receiving the data from the telematics device 104, inoperations 602-606 the telematics server 106 may process the diagnosticsdata to determine the condition of the vehicle. Further, the telematicsserver 106 may determine if the condition of the vehicle satisfies athreshold condition and if the threshold condition is satisfied, thetelematics device may generate a signal that indicates that thethreshold condition has been satisfied. Then, the telematics server 106may transmit the signal, the location of the vehicle, and/or the vehicleidentifier to the promotions server 108.

In operation 610, the promotions sever 108 may receive the datatransmitted from the telematics server 106 which comprises the signal,the location of the vehicle and/or the vehicle identifier of thevehicle. Further, in operation 608, the promotions server 108 mayreceive promotions from the one or more data sources 120 a-n and storethe promotions in the promotions database 326. Further, after receivingthe signal and the location of the vehicle, the promotions server 108may proceed to operation 514 where the promotion server may select oneor more promotions based on the signal and the location of the vehicle.Operation 514 is described in greater detail above in association withFIG. 8 and won't be repeated for sake of brevity. Further, in operations412 and 414, the selected one or more promotions may be transmitted bythe promotions server 108 to either the mobile device 150 associatedwith the driver 110 or the telematics device 104 for presentation to thedriver 110. The process ends at operation 416.

Although the present embodiments have been described with reference tospecific example embodiments, it will be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments.For example, the various devices and modules described herein may beenabled and operated using hardware circuitry (e.g., CMOS based logiccircuitry), firmware, software or any combination of hardware, firmware,and software (e.g., embodied in a machine readable medium). For example,the various electrical structures and methods may be embodied usingtransistors, logic gates, and electrical circuits (e.g., applicationspecific integrated (ASIC) circuitry and/or in Digital Signal Processor(DSP) circuitry).

The terms “invention,” “the invention,” “this invention,” and “thepresent invention,” as used herein, intend to refer broadly to alldisclosed subject matter and teaching, and recitations containing theseterms should not be misconstrued as limiting the subject matter taughtherein or to limit the meaning or scope of the claims. From thedescription of the exemplary embodiments, equivalents of the elementsshown therein will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, andways of constructing other embodiments of the present invention willappear to practitioners of the art. Therefore, the scope of the presentinvention is to be limited only by the claims that follow.

In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations,processes, and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in amachine-readable medium and/or a machine accessible medium compatiblewith a data processing system (e.g., a computer system), and may beperformed in any order (e.g., including using means for achieving thevarious operations). Accordingly, the specification and drawings are tobe regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is: 1) A method comprising: receiving, at a computer,diagnostic data and location data associated with a vehicle, thediagnostic data identifying a condition of the vehicle and the locationdata identifying a location of the vehicle; receiving, at the computer,promotional data comprising a plurality of promotions, each promotionpromoting a purchase transaction or offering a product or service;selecting, by the computer, one or more promotions from the plurality ofpromotions based on the condition of the vehicle and the location of thevehicle; and transmitting, by the computer, the one or more promotionsfor presentation by a device associated with the vehicle or a driver ofthe vehicle. 2) The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the one or morepromotions from the plurality of promotions based on the condition ofthe vehicle and the location of the vehicle further comprising:determining, by the computer, that the condition of the vehiclesatisfies a threshold condition; and responsive to a positivedetermination that the condition of the vehicle satisfies a thresholdcondition, determining, by the computer, the one or more promotions suchthat the one or more promotions are applicable within a thresholddistance from the location of the vehicle. 3) The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, at the computer, a payment cardidentifier associated with a payment card, wherein the payment cardqualifies for at least one promotion of the plurality of promotions. 4)The method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, by the computer, avehicle identifier associated with the vehicle; and responsive to thepositive determination that the condition of the vehicle satisfies thethreshold condition, determining, by the computer, that the vehicleidentifier is associated with the card identifier for the payment card.5) The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic data and the locationdata are received from a telematics device configured for use with thevehicle. 6) The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more selectedpromotions are transmitted to a wireless communication device associatedwith a driver of the vehicle. 7) The method of claim 1, wherein thecondition of the vehicle comprises a quantity of fuel present in a fueltank associated with the vehicle. 8) The method of claim 1, wherein thecondition of the vehicle comprises a maintenance level for the vehicle.9) The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the one ormore promotions for presentation to a user that is associated with thevehicle. 10) A method, comprising: receiving, at a computer, promotionaldata comprising a plurality of promotions; receiving, by the computer,location data associated with a vehicle and a signal representative of atrigger event, the location data identifying a location of the vehicle;responsive to receiving the signal, selecting, by the computer, one ormore promotions from the plurality of promotions based on the locationof the vehicle and the trigger event; and transmitting, by the computer,the one or more promotions for presentation by a device associated withthe vehicle or a driver of the vehicle. 11) The method of claim 10,wherein the trigger event is an event where a value representative of aquantity of fuel present in a fuel tank associated with the vehiclesatisfies a threshold condition. 12) The method of claim 10, wherein thetrigger event is an event where a characteristic of the driver that isassociated with the vehicle satisfies a threshold condition. 13) Themethod of claim 10, wherein the one or more promotions are selected suchthat the one or more promotions are associated with the trigger eventand the one or more promotions are offered at a location that is withina threshold distance from the location of the vehicle. 14) The method ofclaim 10, further comprising: receiving, at the computer, a cardidentifier associated with a payment card, wherein the payment cardqualifies for at least one promotion of the plurality of promotions. 15)The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, by the computer,a vehicle identifier associated with the vehicle; and responsive toreceiving the signal, determining, by the computer, that the vehicleidentifier is associated with the card identifier of the payment cardthat qualifies for at least one promotion of the plurality ofpromotions. 16) The method of claim 10, wherein the signal and thelocation data are received from a telematics device configured for usewith the vehicle. 17) The method of claim 10, wherein the trigger eventis detected a telematics device configured for use with the vehicle. 18)The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more selected promotions aretransmitted to a computing device associated with a driver of thevehicle. 19) A system, comprising: a communication network; and acomputer system coupled to the communication network, wherein thecomputer system is configured to: receive fuel level data and locationdata associated with a vehicle, the fuel level data identifying aquantity of fuel present in a fuel tank of the vehicle and the locationdata identifying a location of the vehicle; receive a situational data;receive promotional data comprising a plurality of promotions and apayment card identifier that identifies a payment card; determine thatthe fuel level data of the vehicle meets a threshold condition;responsive to a positive determination that the fuel level data of thevehicle meets the threshold condition, determine that the vehicle isqualified to receive at least one promotion; and responsive to apositive determination that the vehicle is qualified to receive at leastone promotion, select one or more promotions from the plurality ofpromotions based on the location data associated with the vehicle, thefuel level data of the vehicle, and the situational data. 20) The systemof claim 19, wherein the computer system is configured to transmit theone or more promotions for presentation to a user that is associatedwith the vehicle.